Deirdre is a senior writer for LifeZette. The Blend is a mix of humor, social commentary and frequent whimsy for the modern Average Joe who doesn't have time for anything...but through New Media has time for everything.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Keb Mo at the Wilbur Theater in Boston

Last night my son Matt and I went to the Wilbur Theater in Boston to see three-time Grammy award winner Keb Mo perform with his band. What a treat - if you get the chance to see this artist, jump at it! My oldest son Fred is housemates with Keb's stage manager in Nashville, so a big thank you to both Fred and Ryan for the amazing seats and the chance to chat with Keb Mo afterwards.

It is interesting to see an artist that you know nothing about. We went in with clean slates for brains - we had youtube-d a few of Keb's songs, and I especially like his version of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues (at dinner the night before Ryan told us he was not performing this on the current tour - bummer!) But other than our youtube exposure, I didn't know anything about this talented man.

Keb is very tall and slim, and is visually magnetic - his large feet tapping out rhythms, his long arms cradling his guitar, his smile radiant, capturing every person in the room with his enthusiasm and organic love of performing. He is jazzed by playing live, and so are his players - keyboards, bass and drummer often grinned at each other, at the crowd, as well as at a young guitar student from Cape Cod that was the band's special guest for the show. The set list was a blend of ballad, funk and blues, the lyrics simple and moving or funny, or wry. (My favorite - a song called Government Cheese.) Keb's showmanship extends to chatting easily to his rapt audience, and he stopped to take pen and paper and create a list of the songs audience members were shouting out as requests in a very funny interlude on stage,

Thank you Keb for a amazing live show - Matt and I are new and passionate Keb Mo fans. :-)

Government cheese on youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ddWAiHCoEc